Like aeh, though, I have two very distinct sets of opinions, and some of them contradict one another.
As Ivy astutely noted, though, one thing that we were very mindful of with our now-15yo college freshman is that people will mostly be holding her under a magnifying glass and LOOKING for examples of "immaturity" in ways that her 17-19yo peers are not being scrutinized. It's not really fair, but it is reality, and we hothoused the HECK out of her and placed things under LOAD (referencing my previous post) because we've seen how that "matures" adolescents.
If you
expect them to manage, they tend to find ways. It's a better thing to do it while you can still guide and coach adaptive (and not maladaptive) measures for doing so, IMO.
This is definitely not an easy process, though-- and it's one that everyone on this board with a multiply accelerated child probably ought to bear in mind. There
are ways to tweak that developmental arc (or to influence it using pharmacology), but they are not undertaken lightly, by any means.
It's
the trade-off in early higher ed for our kids. We
are taking away some of their years of "childhood" on the upper side of things.
DD15
is effectively operating as a 19yo now. In some ways that makes me sad, and in others proud.
